Special Squad 

An elite division of the Victoria Police handles crimes too sensitive for regular squads

Stars:

John Diedrich, Alan Cassell, Anthony Hawkins

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
John Diedrich	...	Joel Davis 40 episodes, 1984-1985
Alan Cassell	...	Det. Insp. Don Anderson 40 episodes, 1984-1985
Anthony Hawkins	...	Greg Smith 40 episodes, 1984-1985
Paul Dawber	...	Special Operative Johnson / ... 15 episodes, 1984-1985

Storyline

An elite division of the Victoria Police handles crimes too sensitive for regular squads

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Plot Keywords:

police | 

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Taglines:

It Takes a Special Breed of Cop to Take Aim at Violent Crime

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

1984 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Brigada Especial

Company Credits

Production Co:

Crawford Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min (43 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The helicopter seen in the opening credits was a real police helicopter at the time the show was produced. It was an Aerospatiale SA.365C1 Dauphin 2 that belonged to Victoria Police from 1979 and was decommissioned in 2001. It's dramatic, high-performance takeoff was achieved by having only the pilot on board, making it nose-heavy and light. The pilot was a real police pilot. The helicopter, registered VH-PVF, was stripped of valuable parts and in 2013 is in New South Wales where it is being restored by a private owner for static display.

User Reviews

Australian attempt at "The Professionals"

"Special Squad" was essentially an Australian variation on the classic British action show "The Professionals" (1977-1983). Indeed Raymond Menmuir acted as producer on both series and other similarities included a triumvirate of lead characters, fast-moving plots, car chases, shootouts and other rough stuff. The junior characters even used similar two-digit call-signs.

However "Special Squad" was largely happy to concentrate on straightforward "street level" crime rather than than the nice variety of villainry, espionage and political intrigue of the Brit show. "Squad" also lacked the flair, biting humour and character rapport that had been key to The Professionals' success. Nevertheless it was reasonably entertaining and probably deserved to last longer than its single season.